Netflix sued for disclosing identities of donor-conceived people

Netflix is being sued in federal court over the disclosure of three women's donor-conceived status in the 2022 documentary 'Our Father'.

The documentary follows the story of fertility doctor Donald Cline, who in 2015 was first revealed to have used his own sperm to fertilise eggs of patients seeking donor insemination at an Indiana fertility clinic (see BioNews 869 and 1147). Despite being told that the donated sperm came from medical students, Dr Cline's own sperm was used without patients' consent. Three women, conceived through Dr Cline's personal donations, claim the documentary outed them as his 'secret children' and are suing Netflix for 'public disclosure of private facts'.

The women sued Netflix in 2022 on the grounds that the unauthorised disclosure caused them 'reputational injury, distress, embarrassment and emotional trauma', according to Variety. Netflix then filed a motion to dismiss the case. In a summary ruling released on 8 October 2024, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said that Netflix failed to blur the women's names 'despite knowing that plaintiffs wished to remain anonymous and recognising the harm that the disclosure of their identities might cause.'

The judge allowed two of the women to proceed to trial. The third woman's claim was rejected due to her engagement with the press prior to the making of 'Our Father'.

The story first came to light when several of Dr Cline's donor-conceived children discovered they were half-siblings, following submission of DNA samples to 23andMe. The number of siblings whose paternity traced back to Dr Cline himself rose quickly, and he has since been revealed to have secretly fathered 94 children. The case subsequently caught the attention of the public, and ultimately resulted in Indiana becoming the first US state to write 'fertility fraud' into law (see BioNews 998).

As at-home DNA testing has become more widely available, similar cases have been uncovered worldwide (see BioNews 1257 and 1260) and some countries have reconsidered how they regulate donor conception (see BioNews 1261).

When the siblings were first approached about participating in 'Our Father', producers assured the them that they would not be identified without consent. However, upon release, the film included shots of the 23andMe website, which included the names of three women who had not consented to identification. The women's names, two of which were also included in the trailer for the film, revealed the women to be Dr Cline's biological children.

Judge Pratt said 'the method by which defendants intruded on plaintiffs' privacy allowed hundreds of millions of people worldwide to see their names in the trailer and in the film. This is not a case in which plaintiffs' names were clearly needed to lend credibility or authenticity to the film's story.'

According to Variety, Netflix declined to comment on the ruling. This case is set to proceed to trial at an unknown date.